varíola vs vários, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“varíola” is a noun and “vários” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,414
“varíola” frequency rank: #325
“vários” frequency rank: 28739
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	varíola	vários
Definition	doença contagiosa aguda (oficialmente declarada extinta do planeta na década de 1970), de origem viral, caracterizada por febre, dor no corpo, vômitos e lesões cutâneas	plural de vário

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set varíola and vários apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

varíola

6 ch

vários

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: varíola is /vɐ.ˈɾi.u.lɐ/ while vários is /ˈva.ɾjuʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28739, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

varíola is recorded at frequency rank #28,414, classified as anoun, pronounced /vɐ.ˈɾi.u.lɐ/. vários is at rank #325, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈva.ɾjuʃ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 28739, this pair ranks #40,054 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of varíola vs vários

Shared letters: orv. Private to "varíola": alí. Private to "vários": isá.

"varíola" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "vários" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequency comparison

varíola#28,414

vários#325

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "varíola" and "vários" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "varíola" is a noun and "vários" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "varíola" or "vários"?

"vários" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #325 in our Portuguese list, against #28,414 for "varíola". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering varíola vs vários

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “varíola”; for an adjective, it's “vários”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “varíola” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable